Mountain of evidence: Extreme weather during climb may suggest climate change in Iran

Explorer, environmentalist and Greenwich resident Luc Hardy
had chosen mid-May for his attempt to scale the 5,671-meter Mt.
Damavand in Iran. The weather at that time is usually ideal. It should
have been perfect conditions for the climb and for Hardy to fulfill his
mission -- to monitor the environment and examine the effects of climate
change on the summit.
So, Hardy traveled to Teheran, arriving on May 13. A two-hour drive
brought the Greenwich adventurer and his climber/guide to the base of
Mt. Damavand. Surprisingly, they were met with snow and
wintry conditions.
But Hardy and his companion pushed on, making their way up the first
3,700 meters of the mountain -- when the weather took a turn for the
worse. "It was windy and cold," Hardy said, "not what it should be at
this time."
And the going was getting tougher. "It started to be bad," said Hardy.
At 4,100 meters, the two climbers hunkered down and spent a couple of
nights waiting for things to improve, but the prediction was for the
"bad weather" to continue over the next two days. The ascent
was aborted.
"The reason we could not reach the top," Hardy said, noting the
irony, "is because of climate change. Climate change walked into
our itinerary."
So, Hardy switched his attention to exploring the cities of Iran,
visiting four cities and several small towns and villages. And,
everywhere he looked, he saw the effects of climate change -- in the
form of a severe drought.
Those effects were particularly startling in the city of Isfahan.
"Isfahan is the most beautiful city in Iran," said Hardy. But when he
got to its landmark bridge over the Zayandeh River, there was no water
in sight.
"Imagine seeing the city of Paris without the Seine," he said. "It was shocking. It was a month's-long dry riverbed."
Walking across the dusty riverbed, he came upon a group of scientists
conducting a study there. They explained to Hardy that the change in
climate and too much water being routed by a dam upstream to agriculture
in the surrounding villages had caused the drought.
Isfahan was drying up. "The canals that run through the city were all dry, with grass growing in them," Hardy said.
And where there was water, he saw it being wasted. "There are
fountains flowing in the street," he said. "You see people hosing public
lawns. Why do they have these lawns? And their toilets -- the amount of
water they use for flushing is crazy."
Hardy cited water management as a major issue. "Teheran is at the
base of a chain of mountains that feeds their water supply," he said.
"The people are used to getting their water free and easy. But now the
glaciers are melting more rapidly along with the snow, which is going to
create major water issues."
Another goal of Hardy's
trip was to find out how climate change is perceived by the general
population. "The people say the land is dry," he said, "But the average
citizen is going to have a tough time to address that issue." He found
"a lot of goodwill with the people -- they want to do well," he said,
"but there's no real middle management."
"There are 80 million Iranians," he said, many of whom he said would like to see a change in their government.